Donkey Kong (character)

Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong and Mario character
Promotional art by Shigehisa Nakaue (2019)
First game	Donkey Kong (1981)
Created by	Shigeru Miyamoto
Designed by	Shigeru Miyamoto Kevin Bayliss
Voiced by	See section
In-universe information
Nickname	DK
Species	Gorilla
Family	Kong family

Donkey Kong,^[a] often shortened to DK, is a character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. One of the flagship characters of the Japanese video game company Nintendo, he is the star of the Donkey Kong franchise and also features in the Mario franchise. Donkey Kong is a large, powerful gorilla who leads the Kongs, a family of various primates. He is generally depicted with a large muzzle, brown fur, and a red necktie with his initials, and is usually accompanied by his sidekick, Diddy Kong.

Donkey Kong debuted as the antagonist of Donkey Kong, a 1981 platform game. Miyamoto created him to replace the Popeye character Bluto after Nintendo was unable to obtain the license. Miyamoto designed him as a dumb, humorous antagonist, named donkey to convey stubborn and kong to imply gorilla. The Rare developer Kevin Bayliss redesigned Donkey Kong for Donkey Kong Country (1994), which recast Donkey Kong as the player character. Nintendo has used the Bayliss design since.

Donkey Kong is a pop culture icon and is frequently listed among the greatest video game characters. He features in merchandise and in media including comics and animation. He has been voiced by Takashi Nagasako in games since 2004, and was voiced by Richard Yearwood in the television series Donkey Kong Country (1997–2000) and by Seth Rogen in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023).
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